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Alexander Walker Ogilvie was a leading member of Montreal’s elite Anglophone community. Before the creation of the grain pools in 1920, all grain was purchased by private companies, and Ogilvie had established himself as a successful flour miller. Ogilvie Mills opened a branch in Winnipeg in 1895. Henry Sandham was likely introduced to Ogilvie through the photographer William Notman. Notman worked briefly in the Ogilvie milling business before establishing a photography studio in Montreal, where Sandham was employed in the 1860s and 1870s. At the time this portrait was painted, Ogilvie was a Conservative Senator, appointed by Prime Minister John A. Macdonald. A year later, Ogilvie and several other supporters commissioned Sandham to paint the official portrait of Macdonald, displayed today in the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa.